What Are the Steps to Change the U.S. Constitution?

Changing the U.S. Constitution is a big deal. It's designed to make sure any changes are thought through carefully and have a lot of support. The people who created the Constitution wanted it to be both flexible and stable. This means it can change with society’s needs but still keep its original ideas intact.

The steps to amend the Constitution are outlined in Article V. Here’s a simple breakdown:

Proposal Phase

1. Proposing in Congress:

   • An amendment can be suggested if two-thirds of the members in both the House of Representatives and the Senate agree.
   • For example, in the 117th Congress (2021-2022), only 8 out of over 10,000 bills were voted on as potential amendments.

2. Constitutional Convention:

   • A different way to propose an amendment is through a Constitutional Convention. This would need two-thirds of state legislatures to agree.
   • This method has never been used in the United States, but it’s there just in case states want to make changes on their own.

Ratification Phase

Once a proposal is made, it has to be approved, or "ratified," to become part of the Constitution. This can happen in two ways:

1. Approval by State Legislatures:

   • Three-fourths of state legislatures (which is 38 out of 50) must agree to the amendment. This is the most common way to get an amendment approved.
   • A good example is the 26th Amendment, which gave voting rights to people 18 years and older. This was ratified by 38 states in just over 3 months in 1971.

2. State Conventions:

   • Another way to ratify an amendment is through conventions in three-fourths of the states. This has only happened once for the 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition in 1933.

Key Numbers

• Since the Constitution was approved in 1788, there have been a total of 27 amendments added.
• The first 10 amendments are known as the Bill of Rights and were ratified in 1791.
• The most recent amendment, the 27th Amendment, was ratified in 1992, more than 200 years after it was first proposed.

Conclusion

The process for changing the Constitution is strict on purpose. The framers wanted to keep a balance between being flexible and stable. The two ways to propose amendments help ensure that changes have agreement from many people, either nationally or from the states. Because it takes a large majority to change things, the Constitution protects its core ideas. This careful design helps ensure that any changes reflect what the people want while keeping the Constitution strong.